Automatic vehicle transmissions are routinely used in automotive and other vehicles to convert the power from an engine output shaft to a drive shaft. In general, the automatic transmission shifts the gear ratios so that the ratio of drive shaft revolutions to the engine revolutions increases at higher vehicle speeds. The automatic transmission typically operates on fluid mechanics, and therefore contains numerous fluid passageways and valves for controlling the flow of transmission fluid. The transmission is enclosed in a transmission case or housing, and has an input end and an output end. The exterior surface of the transmission case generally follows the contour of the transmission components contained within the transmission case. Different transmissions therefore have different outside contours.
The valves are typically mounted in or on a valve body within the transmission case. In order to control the transmission, various control devices must have access to the interior of the transmission or to the valve body. One particular control device is a solenoid which operates valves within the transmission. Frequently there are four or five solenoids placed either inside or on the outside of the transmission case to operate valves inside the transmission, although the number of solenoids can vary from zero to about 10. Generally, the solenoids are mounted on the valve body which is contained within the transmission housing, although sometimes the solenoids are mounted outside the transmission housing. The valve bodies for different transmissions have different configurations. There are one or more orifices through the housing for wiring to the solenoids attached to the valve body.
The solenoids used in the control of automatic transmissions are usually attached to the valve body or transmission housing with a bracket having attachment openings or bolt holes to allow the bracket and solenoid to be bolted to the transmission case or directly to the valve body. This allows the solenoid to have a rather standard or uniform design, and yet still be attached to various transmissions. Since the outside contour of transmission housing or valve body varies among different transmission models, different brackets are used to attach the solenoids to different transmissions. During the original manufacture and assembly of the motor vehicle transmission, the solenoids are attached with a bracket designed specifically for the transmission housing or valve body of the transmission. The original vehicle manufacturer makes sufficient quantities of any given transmission that there is essentially no cost penalty to have a unique solenoid bracket design for each different transmission design.
One of the problems, however, with using specific bracket designs is that that replacement or repair becomes difficult. Sometime during the life of most vehicles the transmission is reconditioned or rebuilt, usually by transmission specialists. Transmission rebuilders are faced with trying to find parts that duplicate the original parts in a wide variety of transmission designs. Suppliers of parts for this type of aftermarket have difficulty in cost-effectively making a relatively small number of parts having a particular design. Therefore, it would be advantageous if the manufacture and installation of aftermarket parts for vehicles could be made more efficiently. In particular, it would be helpful if an improved way of mounting aftermarket solenoids onto automatic transmissions could be developed.